Assam: State Govt Orders Converting Around 1,300 ME Madrassas To ME Schools

In an official order, the Assam government has directed the conversion of 1,281 ME Madrassas in the state into ME Schools with immediate effect.

In its latest move, around 1,300 ME (Middle English) Madrassas have been converted to ME Schools in Assam. The Assam government directed the conversion of madrassas to schools with immediate effect through a state government order, news agency PTI reported. Issued by the Assam Elementary Education Director Suranjana Senapati on Wednesday, the government order was reported as saying that 1,281 Upper Primary ME Madrassas across the state under the Directorate of Elementary Education shall be known as “M E School” with immediate effect. 

Notably, on a similar note, in April 2021, all the 610 state-run madrassas in Assam, under the Madrassa Board were converted into Upper Primary, High and Higher Secondary schools with no change of status, pay, allowances and service conditions of the teaching and non-teaching staff. 

Regular classes were going on in all these approximately 1,300 Madrassa ME schools, and following the government instruction, only their nomenclature has been ‘slightly modified,’ Senapati told PTI. “There are students, teachers and other staff in the Madrassas. Classes were going on in these years and the same will continue without any change,” she was further quoted as saying. 

However, on being questioned whether theology was also being taught until now, before the surfacing of the recent government order, she refused to comment. A list following the development with the revised names of the madrassas and their new names was further cited as saying that Anandapur ME Madrassa in Bajali will be known as Anandapur ME School, Charakpara ME Madrassa in Barpeta has become Charakpara ME School and likewise.

Earlier in December 2020, the BJP government repealed The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995 and The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018. This move by the first BJP-led government in Assam, paved the way for all state-funded Madrassas to shut down and transform them into general schools.

(With inputs from PTI)

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